Operation: HELP
by Gemmz
Summary: Being leader is no walk in the park, as Numbuh One knows. But Lizzie's company is making things harder, while breaking up with her is making things more complicated. I'm focusing on the triangle 5x1xLizzie.


This fic's a little more serious than my other ones so far (although this is only my 5th one). But it's not too serious though! Oh, and has anyone else noticed just how difficult it is to write about Numbuh Five being romantic _and_ keeping her in character? Dude, it's a nightmare.

Disclaimer: I don't own KND or any of it's awesomeness, that all belongs to Mr Warburton. Worship him, not me.

* * *

**Operation: H.E.L.P:**

**Horror**

**Equals**

**Lizzie's**

**Powuh**

"Kids Next Door, battle stations!" Numbuh One ordered as four 2x4 technology-equipped kids jumped out from behind him and took his order.

Numbuh Four pounced fiercely onto a nearby teenager, Chad, and whapped him hard with the S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R. It made Chad lose his balance, but it didn't seem to be hurting him particularly. "Nice try, little brat," he laughed. "But that won't work on me. I'm wearing Battle Ready Armour!"

"Yeah. Nice bra, traitor!" Numbuh Four yelled as his punched the former operative in the face. Chad fell to the ground and Numbuh Four pinned him down. For a kid so short, he was pretty tough.

"Ooh! Good one, Numbuh Four!" Numbuh Three called excitedly, rushing over and joining him in keeping Chad pinned down. "I'll help!"

"Excellent work, guys - wah!" Numbuh One was trying to congratulate the two operatives, but crashed to the concrete ground with a THUD as Cree hit him from behind. "Ow..." Numbuh One groaned, rubbing his head and shakily standing back up.

Numbuh Five whacked Cree with the S.C.A.M.P.P from behind. In shock, Cree turned round. "Trying to save your leader again. Huh, Crabigail?" she smirked as she looked down at her little sister. "I don't know why you bother, when you know you're going to end up working with us in a few years."

"Oh save your breath, Cree," Numbuh Five replied. "You'll need it for when you start screaming."

"What are you..." Cree began, but then she suddenly noticed that Numbuh Two was standing right next to her staring at her gormlessly.

"Creeeeeeeee..." Numbuh Two said slowly - and gormlessly.

"Ew, gross! Get it away!" Cree exclaimed, pushing him away from her.

While she was busy being scared of Numbuh Two, this gave Numbuh Five a chance to whap her some more so that she fell to the ground. Numbuh Two pinned Cree down just like Numbuhs Three and Four did to Chad. "I'm liking this mission!" Numbuh Two smiled excitedly.

With both teenagers pinned down, Numbuh One grinned. "Excellent," he said. "Keep them down while I contact Moonbase Prison."

While Numbuh One got his communicator out of his pocket, Numbuh Five suddenly noticed someone coming over to them. "Uh... Numbuh One," she gulped. "We've got company."

"Whoever it is, entertain them, I'm busy," Numbuh One said, as he began to dial for Moonbase.

Just then he was interrupted. "Hi, Nigie!" a familiar voice called happily. Numbuhs Two, Three, Four and Five didn't look happy to see the owner of this voice - particularly Numbuh Five.

Numbuh One turned round. "Oh. Hey, Lizzie," he smiled. "Look, I'm very busy right now with a mission. Hang on a moment..."

He was waiting for Moonbase to answer his call, and Lizzie went on. "Poor Nigie. Always so busy with missions! You work too hard, you know. Why don't you take a break?"

Numbuh One repeated. "I'm busy, Lizzie."

"Hey, that rhymed!" Lizzie chuckled. "You're so funny, Nigel!"

When Numbuh 362 finally picked up the communicator on the other end, Numbuh One began explaining to her where they were and the situation. Meanwhile, Lizzie ran over to where Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four were keeping Chad from escaping. "Don't you think Nigie works too hard?" she asked them.

"Well yeah," Numbuh Four replied, keeping his attention on Chad (Numbuh Four has attention?). "But so what? He enjoys it, and he's a good leader."

"But everyone needs time off now and then," Lizzie went on.

"Numbuh One takes breaks!" Numbuh Three said. "He goes on dates with you, doesn't he?"

"Well he doesn't go on enough dates!" Lizzie complained. "Poor Nigie's always getting himself into trouble with big, dumb, ugly people and he never has time for the most important thing in his life!"

"Well if these big, dumb, ugly people didn't keep swooning over him during a mission, maybe he would take time off!" Numbuh Four yelled, a cheeky smile appearing on his face.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Lizzie screamed, pushing him over.

Numbuh Four at this point lost his grip on pinning Chad down, and so Chad got up and flung Numbuh Three off of him. "Hey. Thanks, annoying girlfriend of 'Nigie' kid," he saluted. "You'll make a good teen one day."

Lizzie gasped as Chad zapped Numbuh Two away from Cree and both teenagers got away. "What just happened?" Numbuh One wailed, who hung up from his communicator.

"The teenagers got away," Lizzie said innocently. Then, not-so-innocently, she said, "It's all thanks to your stupid teammates. They weren't paying attention! Not like you do, Nigie!"

"Lizzie, you did this... didn't you?" Numbuh One raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Nigie!" Lizzie gasped. "How can you even think that?"

Numbuh One sighed. "Come back to the Treehouse with us," he said. "I think we need to talk."

Lizzie didn't notice the hint of anger in his voice. Cheerfully, she said, "Of course I'll come over, Nigie!"

Numbuh One and Lizzie walked back to the Treehouse, the other operatives walking sulkily behind.

Later, Numbuh 362, along with Numbuhs 58, 59, 92 and 93 arrived where Numbuh One had told them to meet them. "Hello?" Numbuh 362 called as tumbleweed went past. "Numbuh One? Anybody?"

"Lizzie, you go into my room. I'll be there in a second," Numbuh One ordered, once they were back at the Treehouse. Lizzie seemed a little excited about this, so she ran in happily.

When he was sure she couldn't hear, Numbuh One turned to his teammates. "Now I'm going to have a word with Lizzie about her... interference," he said, the others looking a little alarmed. "Things could get violent, so I don't want any of you coming in. Even if it sounds like I'm in trouble."

"Are you sure about this, Numbuh One?" asked Numbuh Four.

"Yeah, you're dealing with some pretty tough forces here," Numbuh Two added.

"Guys, I appreciate your concerns, but it's okay," Numbuh One replied reassuringly.

"I hope Lizzie doesn't take it too hard," Numbuh Three gulped.

"Me too," Numbuh One shuddered. "It's been a long day, and I don't want to start an argument. But I've got to be tough!"

"Just be careful, Numbuh One," Numbuh Five said quietly. No one had realized that Lizzie had just poked her head around and was listening now.

"Come on, guys," Numbuh One groaned. "It's really not that bad, and you know it. Lizzie's always comfortable in my room." Lizzie's face brightened. Numbuh One continued, "And I'm sure she will understand what a difficult position I'm in." Now he was talking about positions! Lizzie grinned. Then Numbuh One said, "I'm sure I can handle it when things get physical." Things were gonna get physical? Now Lizzie was excited!

Numbuh Two sighed. "Come on, Numbuh Four," he said. "Let's go work on that new robot!"

Numbuh Four followed Numbuh Two to his room, and Numbuh Three said, "Oopsy, I'm almost late for a Rainbow Monkey tea party. Bub-bi!"

When Numbuh Three had disappeared into her room, Numbuh Five turned back to Numbuh One. "Are you sure you don't want us around?" she asked.

"Numbuh Five! I've been dating Lizzie for a long time now," said Numbuh One. "I know exactly how to deal with her. Why don't you go and check the mission schedule? I'll meet you there later."

Numbuh Five was about to say something else, when Lizzie suddenly ran back in. "Come on, Nigie," she said, smiling sweetly at him. "I thought we were going to have some alone time!" She didn't notice that Numbuh Five was giving her a harsh glare.

"Yes, well..." Numbuh One began. He didn't know whether to feel relieved that Lizzie was presently in a good mood, or even more nervous. "Okay, as long as you're ready for this."

"Oh, Nigie!" Lizzie sighed happily - having no idea what he was talking about. "I love you!" And then she pulled him close and hugged him tightly. Numbuh One forced a smile.

"Uh... Numbuh Five will go do that mission thingy, now," Numbuh Five said, with a hint of depression in her voice.

Lizzie ran into Numbuh One's room, pulling him in by his hand. When they got inside, and were alone, Lizzie sat down on Numbuh One's bed. "So, Nigie," Lizzie smiled. "When d'you wanna get physical?"

_This is going to be harder than I thought,_ Numbuh One thought to himself. He sat beside Lizzie and said, "Now, Lizzie. I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I've been finding it very stressful going on missions and dates at the same time, lately."

"Poor Nigie!" Lizzie sighed, hugging him again. "That's why you need to take breaks. You can't be expected to do two things at once!"

Numbuh One had the feeling she had just made a sexist joke, but he ignored it. "Well that's kind of the problem," he continued, beginning to get a little nervous now. "You see, there's been a lot of missions going on lately, and well, I need to..."

"You need to stop worrying about your stupid missions and spend some time with me!" Lizzie finished for him.

"No," Numbuh One said, perhaps a little more sharply than he had intended. Lizzie looked a bit worried. "Kids Next Door missions are important! What I need is more time to myself so I can concentrate on the missions." Lizzie looked confused now. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. But we just have to cut down on the dates for now."

Lizzie was shocked, but she still managed to show anger. "Nigel! How could you?" she gasped. "You mean you care about missions more than you care about me?"

"Now that's not what I said," Numbuh One said slowly. Lizzie was frowning, waiting to hear the rest. "I just want to take it easy for a while so I can focus on one thing at a time."

"Oh, and I suppose that one thing is all that's important to you now!" Lizzie said. They were now standing up and were starting to raise their voices. "You know what your problem is, Nigel? You're all work and no play! You never let yourself have a good time. You're just always obsessing over missions without any consideration for other people's feelings!"

"Lizzie!" Numbuh One gasped, looking a little upset. "You know these missions are to help the kids of the world!"

"I just can't believe that you'd let a stupid club of yours get in the way of our relationship!" Lizzie shouted.

Numbuh One was extremely angry now. "Well maybe it's this stupid relationship getting in the way of our missions!" he yelled. "The future of kids everywhere is in our hands, and I'm not going to let a date-obsessed arrogant girl get in the way of what's most important to us!"

Suddenly, Numbuh One realized he had made a dreadful mistake. He gulped. He didn't mean it the way he said it. Lizzie looked like she might burst into tears any second, but instead she walked a step closer to Numbuh One and in a dangerously calm tone, she said, "Well, I'm sorry if our relationship has been getting in your way all this time." She then raised her voice again, and shouted, "Nigel Uno, we're through!"

Lizzie exited the Treehouse on her own. Numbuh One slowly sat back down on his bed. He had just sacrificed his close relationship with Lizzie so that he could dedicate his life to missions.

Time passed, and Numbuh Five wasn't sure whether to get impatient or worried about where her leader was. He had been in his room for a long time, and he said that he would meet her to look through the mission schedule as soon as he was done with Lizzie. She walked outside the room and into the hallway, to see if he was coming. No sign of Numbuh One, but Numbuh Two was passing through (Ew, that sounded... really wrong!).

"Hey, Numbuh Two!" Numbuh Five called, running up to him. "You seen Numbuh One?"

"Not since he went to speak to Lizzie," Numbuh Two shrugged. "I wonder how he's..." he thought for a moment.

"Well... he said he'd be okay," Numbuh Five gulped. "But then again..."

"Let's go find him," Numbuh Two said quickly, and Numbuh Five could only agree.

Both kids hurriedly made their way to their leader's bedroom. Numbuhs Three and Four saw them running through the hallway. "What the crud's going on here?" asked Numbuh Four.

"We're gonna find out what's up with Numbuh One," Numbuh Two replied.

"Uh-oh," Numbuh Three said worriedly. "I bet the thing with Lizzie didn't go too well."

"Right, so he's counting on us to be here for him," Numbuh Five finished. "Come on, guys."

The kids reached Numbuh One's room. Numbuh Two knocked on the door. "Numbuh One?" he called. "Can we come in?"

No reply. The four kids exchanged confused expressions.

"Numbuh One?" Numbuh Five said, just loud enough for him to hear. "It's us. Are you okay?"

Still no reply. But then after a moment they heard footsteps. They waited patiently for their leader to open the door. But when this happened, they couldn't help but notice something different about him. Somehow, he just didn't seem as... confident. Numbuh Four looked up at him. "Numbuh One?" he asked.

"Hey, guys," Numbuh One said quietly. He walked past them and into the living room, the others silently following. "It's over now. Everything's over."

As Numbuh One sunk into one side of the two-seater couch, Numbuh Four sat himself on the three-seater. Numbuh Three went over and sat next to him. "Wha...what happened?" Numbuh Three questioned, almost afraid to ask.

"I explained to her it was all too much," Numbuh One said slowly, bowing his head a little. "And, well... she left me."

Numbuh Two and Numbuh Five looked at each other with an '_I'm not sure that's a good thing_' expression, as did Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four. Numbuh One continued. "I was angry. I... I snapped at her. I didn't mean to... to upset her, though. It was the heat of the moment." At that point, he sounded a little choked up. He stopped talking for a second.

Numbuh Two slowly sat down next to Numbuh Four on the couch. Numbuh Five sat down next to Numbuh One. "It's okay to get angry with people, Numbuh One," Numbuh Five said gently. "Besides, she'll get over it."

"No, she won't," Numbuh One said quietly, lifting his head. Now that she was a little closer, Numbuh Five noticed that Numbuh One had been crying under his sunglasses. "Lizzie's never going to forgive me for this," Numbuh One sighed. "She said it's all over. She said we're through!"

The others weren't really sure how they were supposed to react to this. Finally, Numbuh Five said, "Well... it's her loss!"

"She was asking for it anyway," Numbuh Four said. "She's so cruddy annoying, and you're a seriously cool leader."

"Yeah," Numbuh Three agreed. "She didn't care about understanding what you were going through then."

"Guys, you can't possibly understand what I'm going through right now," Numbuh One groaned.

"Maybe not, but we realize that," Numbuh Two shrugged, forcing a heartwarming smile.

"And we're gonna make sure you get through this," Numbuh Five added, resting her hand on Numbuh One's shoulder. She turned to the others. "Right guys?"

The others smiled and turned to Numbuh One. "Thanks, guys," he smiled. "I guess I know who my real friends are."

The next morning, the operatives of Sector V were woken with a start as the siren went off. The five operatives ran into the room with the big screen thingy in, and Numbuh 65.3 appeared on it. "Sector V, this is an urgent message from Kids Next Door Moonbase," Numbuh 65.3 said in a serious tone.

"What's the message, Numbuh 65.3?" asked Numbuh One, in his sensible English accent.

"Numbuh 88 was sent to spy on the Delightful Children last night," Numbuh 65.3 began. "It turns out that Father plans to attack your Treehouse today at precisely very soon o'clock. By the sounds of things, he hopes to destroy it with the help of the teenagers."

"Well don't worry," Numbuh One said. "We've got it all under control."

"I hope so," Numbuh 65.3 replied. "I hear Father is bringing new recruits with him, so be on your toes."

As Numbuh 65.3 ended the transmission, Numbuh One turned to his team. "You heard him," he said. "We've got to be careful. I want one of you to stand outside the Treehouse as bait and signal when Father and the teenagers show up." He turned to one of the operatives. "Numbuh Two, do you think you can handle that?"

Numbuh Four burst out laughing. "Yeah, right!" he chuckled. "He runs off screaming the moment he sees danger! He wouldn't be able to defend himself. He's nowhere near tough enough for the job!"

Moments later, Numbuh Four found himself standing outside the Treehouse. "Crud," he mumbled. He looked around, seeing if any enemies (that's fun to say - any enemies) were showing up. Still no sign.

"Numbuh One!" Numbuh Four yelled. "When are the teenagers getting here?"

"That would be now," Cree's voice was heard from nearby.

"Oh, okay then," Numbuh Four said calmly, then he suddenly realized who it was. He turned to her. "Hey! You lookin' for trouble? 'Cos you've found it!"

"Aww, how cute," Cree said sarcastically, hovering in the sky with thanks to her Battle Ready Armour. "The little squirt thinks he's dangerous."

Numbuh Four leapt up and punched her angrily, and she fell to the ground. Numbuh Four stood above her. "And you know the little squirt's right!" he smiled. He then turned his head towards the Treehouse and shouted, "The teens are here!"

"Did you hear that?" Numbuh Three asked from inside the Treehouse. "It sounded like a code of some sort. What do you think it means?"

"It means the teens are here," Numbuh Five replied impatiently, as Numbuh Two suited himself up with weapons.

"Oh," Numbuh Three replied. "Well I worry about Wally and I get scared when he's in danger. I always look after him, but he always pushes me away!"

"Oh you poor thing," Numbuh Five said sarcastically. "Now grab some weapons. We've got a battle to win!"

"That's the spirit, team!" Numbuh One cried excitedly as he ran into the room and picked up a weapon. "Kids Next Door, battle stations!"

The five kids attacked the teens, no problem. There had been a lot of teen attacks lately, and they were starting to learn all their moves and tricks. When Chad yelled at the other teenagers to retreat, Father made his grand entrance... by shooting part of the Treehouse with fire. "The Treehouse is on fire!" Numbuh Two gasped. He quickly ran inside, and came out wearing a fly suit and was holding a hose. He turned the hose on and hovered above the flames, slowly putting them out. He looked kind of pathetic.

"You look kind of pathetic," said Father, noticing that he looked kind of pathetic. Seeing that he looked kind of pathetic, Numbuh Two sprayed Father with the hose.

"Now you look kind of pathetic!" laughed Numbuh Two. The others turned to see Father looking kind of pathetic... and wet.

"That's it!" Father yelled furiously, flaming up again. The other kids took a step back. It wasn't too safe to be near this firework show, as they knew only too well from experience. "New recruits, attack!"

The new recruits attacked (well... obviously). The Kids Next Door were taking them down easily, and then the recruits ran off screaming. "This is too easy!" Numbuh Five smiled.

"You got that right!" Numbuh Two called from the sky, getting as many people as he could with the hose. The fire had now been put out.

"Ugh! How can we destroy the Treehouse if we can't even get close to it?" Father shouted, getting very annoyed. He turned to the short, stubby recruit in Battle Ready Armour standing next to him and ordered, "Take down the leader... now!"

The recruit hovered over to Numbuh One and pinned him down before he had the chance to make an attack, like they were doing to the teenagers yesterday. Ouch - not only were the kids learning the teens' moves, but it looked like the teens had been practicing too. This recruit in particular was somewhat strong. Either they were supernatural, or they were very angry for some reason.

"You can't hold me forever!" Numbuh One said as he struggled to free himself.

"Who says I'm trying to hold you?" a familiar voice asked. The recruit's mask unfolded and she revealed herself. "You know we're through, Nigel."

"Lizzie!" Numbuh One gasped. "You... joined the teenagers?"

"A little early, but I have a future to prepare for," Lizzie went on. "A future that doesn't include you!"

Suddenly, Lizzie was whapped and she fell to the ground - luckily next to Numbuh One rather than on him. Squish. "What the-" she began.

"Leave him alone," Numbuh Five looked down at Lizzie, glaring at her furiously. "Isn't that what you wanted to do?"

"Nigel Uno is a big selfish mission-obsessed pathetic excuse for a leader," Lizzie growled. "He's a total control freak!"

"I know you are!" Numbuh Four yelled at Lizzie.

Lizzie shot an evil look at him. "I'll be quiet now," Numbuh Four gulped.

Lizzie turned back to Numbuh Five. "I don't know why you and your teammates bother. He just obsesses over things that always end up going wrong and then you all act like he's a hero. Newsflash, Nigel's a fake. He pretends he's something he's not. He pretended to like me. He pretends to like you. He's no hero at all!"

Something about that provoked Numbuh Five. "Numbuh One is a hero! Numbuh Four was right!" she yelled (Wow... Numbuh Four was right about something? This story's getting weird...). "You can't appreciate Numbuh One for who he is, so you left him. Just because he realizes there's more to life than dating some control freak girl who just uses him for dating! And you called him selfish?"

Lizzie was about to say something else, but she paused. She couldn't believe that someone would defend a guy who yells at his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Father was looking at his defeated minions. "Well this is embarrassing," he said quietly. "Come on, my new recruits. We're going back to basic training I think..."

As the recruits filed back, Lizzie gave Numbuh One yet another glare and left. "Numbuh One! Are you okay?" Numbuh Two asked, as he, Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four ran over to help him up.

"Yeah, I guess," Numbuh One said, forcing a smile. "Let's go back inside, team. You all deserve a rest."

As the others went back into the Treehouse, Numbuh One and Numbuh Five followed them from behind. "Hey, thanks for your support today, Numbuh Five," Numbuh One grinned. "That was brave."

"But Lizzie-" Numbuh Five began.

"Really," Numbuh One continued. "It's okay."

Numbuh Five said nothing, but she thought to herself, _no, it's not okay. That Lizzie had no right to treat Nigel the way she did._

"And why is it that Nigel Uno dumped you?" Five creepy unison voices asked Lizzie.

"He didn't..." Lizzie corrected them. "I dumped him."

"Yet you want to get back with him?" was the question that came after this.

"Well... yeah," Lizzie sighed sadly. "Maybe I do. I've just been feeling so lonely! But it's just that he never wants to spend any time with me."

She looked up at the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, who each had an evil grin on their faces. "Then you know what you have to do, don't you?" they asked.

Lizzie looked at them quizzically. The Delightful Children sighed impatiently. "We can't believe you didn't try this straight away. You need to use a boyfriend helmet!"

Lizzie gasped. "But I can't do that!" she said. "I actually did try it once, and I promised Nigie I'd never do it again!"

"Oh my, our mistake!" the Delightful Children replied, in mock sympathy. "It's just that we thought you would be willing to break a promise to him, since he's been so mean to you!"

"Well... you do have a point there," Lizzie began. "But I don't know."

"Do you want to get Nigel back or not?" the Delightful Children yelled.

Lizzie said nothing. She just waited for them to calm down. The Delightful Children continued, not yelling, "Because if you want him back, you're going to have to get past his team. And since we hate the Kids Next Door so much, we're offering a helping hand..."

Lizzie had to think for a moment. Brainwashing Nigel Uno to get back their relationship? But that would mean that he wouldn't truly like her. Then again, did he ever like her the way she liked him? Perhaps there really wasn't anything to lose. Lizzie turned to the Delightful Children. She had made her decision.

Back at the Treehouse, the Kids Next Door were minding their own business. Numbuh Two and Numbuh Four were playing video games (Numbuh Two was winning - Numbuh Four was losing miserably) and Numbuh Three and Numbuh Five were reading magazines. Numbuh One was getting on with some paperwork about previous missions, including the battle they had just fought. Considering he had broken up with his girlfriend less than 24 hours ago, he was taking it very well. The others noticed this. "Numbuh One's sure recovering fast from yesterday," Numbuh Two said to Numbuh Four.

"Oh no you don't!" Numbuh Four said, keeping his eyes glued to the screen. "You're just trying to put me off. Well it ain't gonna work!"

"You just wouldn't have guessed," Numbuh Three exclaimed. "He seems... normal!"

"Yeah," Numbuh Two said, raising an eyebrow (that made one of his goggles look bigger than the other). He looked over to his leader, just as he beat Numbuh Four once again. "Hey, Numbuh One! You wanna turn on this soon?"

Numbuh One looked round. Surprisingly he answered, "Sure, why not? I've nearly finished this report anyhow."

While Numbuh Four was busy pounding the floor with anger, Numbuh Two and Numbuh Three looked at each other in amazement. "Wow, Numbuh One's happy!" Numbuh Three gasped with happiness.

"I know, isn't it great?" Numbuh Two smiled. "Numbuh One must have a lot more time to himself now that he doesn't have to worry about Lizzie."

Just then Numbuh One ran over to join Numbuhs Two and Four. "So, who's up first?" he asked.

"Me!" Numbuh Four volunteered. "I might not have beaten Numbuh Two, but I bet I can take you down!"

"We'll see about that," Numbuh One smiled mockingly menacingly.

While the three boys turned their attention to the video game (Numbuh Four taking the pasting yet again) Numbuh Three turned to Numbuh Five. She looked a little confused. "Uh... Numbuh Five?" she asked.

That startled Numbuh Five a little. "What... oh, sorry," she said dopily. "Yeah?"

"Umm... it's just that you've been reading that page for a long time now," Numbuh Three giggled.

"Oh right," Numbuh Five replied, looking at the open page in her magazine. "Yeah, Numbuh Five was just thinking about things."

"What kind of things?" Numbuh Three asked.

"You know... just things," Numbuh Five shrugged. "Missions, battles..."

Numbuh Three looked at Numbuh One, but was still speaking to Numbuh Five. "Don't you think he's a bit happy for someone who's just lost his girlfriend?" she questioned, speaking quietly so that the others would hear. "It's almost as if he's glad it happened!"

"Yeah, it is," Numbuh Five replied, still a bit confused.

"And now he's playing video games!" Numbuh Three chuckled. "And by the looks of it he's pretty good. Who'd a thought?"

"Well actually, Numbuh One's good at a lot of things," Numbuh Five said.

Numbuh Three smiled and was about to say something in response to this, but before she had a chance the Treehouse was breached.

The Delightful Children from Down the Lane walked out from a... whatever that thing was they were riding in, and looked at the goofing-off kids. "Greetings, Kids Next Door," they said eerily. "We're sorry the teenagers couldn't stay very long this morning, so we thought we would drop in."

"Came to get your butts kicked too?" Numbuh One asked, jumping into action with a weapon he had quite conveniently got from under a nearby couch (as you do).

"Our butts kicked?" the Delightful Children asked innocently. "Oh dear, I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding."

At that point, their machine thing they used to get into the Treehouse transformed into a huge ray gun. "Kids Next Door, battle stations!" Numbuh One yelled, and the others immediately took his lead.

Numbuh Four leapt onto the ray gun and started pounding it with his fists. "Oh that's so pathetic," the Delightful Children said in a mock sympathetic tone. "It must have taken you all day to come up with that plan, Wallabee."

"You bet!" Numbuh Four shouted proudly. "And once I'm done knocking out your ray gun, I'm gonna do that same to you!"

The Delightful blonde boy at the front flicked Numbuh Four onto the ground, who landed with a thud. Then they pointed the ray gun at him and shot quickly. Numbuh Four went flying and landed in Numbuh Three's pile of cuddly Rainbow Monkeys at the other end of the room. "Aw crud," Numbuh Three heard him mumble, as she went to help him.

"Nice shot, Delightful Doofuses," Numbuh Two called up at them. "But what are you gonna do now - play 'Where's Wally'?"

Numbuh Five whacked him from one side, so he turned round and said, "Hey, that wasn't a joke - I meant it!"

"I wouldn't worry about that," said the Delightful Children. "We're just thinking of going for Numbuh Two."

"Dude, that's gross," Numbuh Two began. Then he suddenly realized what they meant. "Oh, wait. Uh-oh!"

The ray gun zapped and Numbuh Two also landed in the Rainbow Monkey pile on top of Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four! "Well this is cruddy," Numbuh Four said to himself.

"Alright, Delightful Freaks, show Numbuh Five what you've got!" Numbuh Five yelled as she attempted to shoot them with her own weapon.

"Very well then," then Delightful Children shrugged, and zapped her too.

Numbuh Five didn't land with the others, though. Instead, she fell the other way where Numbuh One was (he stood back while attacking) and landed on him. When they both fell to the ground, Numbuh One appeared to have caught Numbuh Five in his arms! They paused for a moment to catch their breath back. "Oh how cute!" the Delightful Children laughed.

Numbuh One and Numbuh Five noticed what had happened. Numbuh Five felt herself blush and she quickly jumped up. "Aw man... sorry about that, Numbuh One!" she said quickly, forcing a smile.

"Uh, yeah," Numbuh One gulped, who was also aware that he had gone red in the face.

Just then someone in Battle Ready Armour jetbooted their way over to where Numbuh One was sitting on the floor and carried him away quickly, out of the megasized hole the Delightful Children had made in the wall during their entrance. "Yipe!" Numbuh One squeaked as this happened.

"Numbuh One!" Numbuh Five yelled.

"Yikes!" Numbuh Two gasped.

Numbuh Three screamed loudly.

"What just happened?" Numbuh Four asked, crawling out of the Rainbow Monkeys.

The Delightful Children laughed loudly - their mission a complete success. Their ray gun turned back into some sort of transportation device and they left.

"Where did he go?" Numbuh Three asked worriedly.

"That teen just swooped in and took him," Numbuh Two gulped.

"Guys, Numbuh Five doesn't think that was a teen," Numbuh Five told the others, in a serious tone.

"Are you saying it was... Lizzie?" Numbuh Two asked, even more nervously.

Numbuh Five nodded. "But why?" Numbuh Three asked. "She was the one who left him."

"I dunno why," Numbuh Five said. "But something's up, and we've gotta find them quick."

"What, right now?" Numbuh Three groaned. "Straight after a battle?"

"Yeah," Numbuh Two grumbled. "If it was one of use who'd been kidnapped, I bet you'd wanna stay here until we had a plan!"

"Guys, this is Numbuh One we're talking about," Numbuh Five reminded them. "He's not just any old operative - he's our leader!"

"More like he's the guy you were just hugging during that last battle!" Numbuh Two laughed, and Numbuh Three giggled in response.

"Hey now that's not what Numbuh Five said!" Numbuh Five shouted, hoping her face hadn't gone red again.

"You didn't have to!" Numbuh Two chuckled. He and Numbuh Three burst out laughing.

"You guys, we don't have time for this!" Numbuh Five said angrily. "We've got to rescue Numbuh One."

"Okay, okay," Numbuh Two said, calming down. "So what's the plan?"

"No clue yet," Numbuh Five replied. "We'll think of something on the way. But we have to follow Lizzie or whoever to find out where they're taking him."

"Oh, okay!" Numbuh Three smiled. "We wouldn't want you to be heartbroken!"

"Why you..." Numbuh Five began.

Suddenly Numbuh Four let out a shriek. "Aaauuggghhh!" he gasped. "Guys, we've got a problem."

"What is it, Numbuh Four?" asked Numbuh Two.

Numbuh Four stood up and announced, "Numbuh One's gone!"

The Kids Next Door used the C.O.O.L.B.U.S to follow Lizzie from a distance. Lizzie was moving so fast she soon became out of range. "Where are they?" Numbuh Four asked.

"I think they're in a cloud," Numbuh Two replied. He steered the C.O.O.L.B.U.S higher.

"Are we going in a cloud too?" Numbuh Three asked. "That sounds scary!"

She hugged the nearest thing to her - which happened to be Numbuh Four. "Save me!" she wailed. Numbuh Four was blushing.

Normally at this sort of moment, Numbuh Five would say something just to annoy them, but today she just didn't feel like doing that. "Aw man, Numbuh Five sure hopes Numbuh One's alright," she sighed.

"Don't worry," Numbuh Two said. "We're on the right track."

Numbuh Two accelerated and Lizzie came into view again. Her jetboots still seemed to be going faster than their vehicle, but they could see them fairly clearly. "Crud, that's fast," Numbuh Four exclaimed. Then he looked out the window. "Hey, there they are!"

At that point, Lizzie turned round and saw that she was being followed by a familiar piece of 2x4 technology. So she decided to lose them. She first flew downwards at a sharp turn, so the kids followed. "Aughh! Numbuh Two, what's going on?" Numbuh Five yelled.

"I'm trying to follow Lizzie!" Numbuh Two replied, also shouting.

Lizzie did a few interesting things in the air - loop the loops, more sharp turns, disappearing and reappearing into clouds. Numbuh Two did his best to follow, but it was becoming very complicated. "Hang on, guys!" he called.

"We're trying!" the others called back, making miserable attempts to not fall about and crash into each other.

Numbuh One still hadn't realized it was Lizzie. In fact, he had completely forgotten about her for the moment. "I don't know who you are or what you're up to," he said. "But if you don't stop these air acrobats, I think I'm going to throw up!"

Lizzie at this point decided to stop the circus act. She began to speed up and headed diagonally downwards. That didn't do wonders for Numbuh One's stomach. It took his mind off of it though, and made him think of something else... where was he going and why?

Lizzie landed in the Delightful Children's mansion (through an open window) and dropped Numbuh One onto a chair, which automatically strapped him in. "Hey! What's going on here?" Numbuh One gasped.

Lizzie unfolded her armour and Numbuh One suddenly realized who it was. He was half expecting it, but it was still a shock to see his ex-girlfriend turning against them the day after their relationship ended. "So nice of you to join us, Nigel," five unison voices called from behind.

Numbuh One couldn't turn round - he was so firmly strapped into the chair that he couldn't move a muscle. The Delightful Children walked round in front of him. "Wh-what are you freaks going to do to me?" he asked, trying to sound menacing but just ended up sounding scared.

"You've been really mean, Nigel Uno!" Lizzie yelled. "You always pushed me aside just to go on some stupid mission with your friends," her voice then toned down a little. "Well luckily for you, I just can't go on without a boyfriend, so I'm going to forgive you."

"Lizzie, why are you doing this?" Numbuh One questioned, doing his best to sound calm. "You were the one that left me. So why won't you just... leave me?"

"I'm doing this for the sake of both of us!" Lizzie replied. At this point, the rest of Sector V were watching elusively through a nearby window. "It's not your fault that your teammates are so rude and demanding. And I really want us to get back together again. So what do you say?"

"Ooh... don't do it, Numbuh One," Numbuh Three heard Numbuh Five whisper under her breath.

"I... I don't believe this!" Numbuh One said, beginning to get angry. "You kidnap me after you attack us, strap me up so I can't move, insult my friends... and then you expect me to actually be interested in you again? Forget it, Lizzie. It'll never happen!"

"I was certain you'd say that," Lizzie smirked.

"Then... why did you bother asking?" asked Numbuh One, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I was prepared for it!" Lizzie smiled.

"And that's where we come in!" the Delightful Children announced, stepping closer to Numbuh One. "We'll do anything to break up your pathetic team, and well... Lizzie here has offered to take care of the team's leader. I think we all know that without the leader the team doesn't stand a chance of winning another battle..."

"That's it, they're going down!" Numbuh Four muttered quietly.

The Delightful Children continued, "Now we know you don't think there'll ever be a chance of you and Lizzie getting back together again..."

"I think it because it's true," Numbuh One replied aggressively. "And you know it too!"

"Oh we know alright," the Delightfuls smiled sinisterly. "We know that you won't be able to resist as soon as we put this boyfriend helmet on you!"

The short Delightful girl revealed a big, ugly helmet. Numbuh One gasped when he saw it - Lizzie had tried this before, and it hadn't worked. But she had promised never to do it again. "Lizzie - I don't believe you!" Numbuh One gulped. "You'd rather have me date you by force rather than dating someone for their true feelings? You really have gone evil!"

"It doesn't matter what you think of me now," Lizzie yelled (she's been doing a lot of yelling in this story). "Because all that's about to change!"

"And it doesn't stop there!" the Delightful Children continued. "This boyfriend helmet has been modified to work a quadrillion times quicker and more powerfully. Plus, it's made to make you lose all the memory of your times in the Kids Next Door, as well as love Lizzie for eternity!" They laughed deviously. The kids looking through the window at this point decided to find a way in where they wouldn't be spotted. This had to be stopped!

Lizzie stood behind Numbuh One, about to place the boyfriend helmet onto his bald head. "Lizzie, you know this is wrong!" Numbuh One said in a shaky voice.

"I don't care!" Lizzie replied simply. "If I can't have you, no one can! But luckily for you, I'm giving you the chance to be happy again."

The Kids Next Door were listening to this through the wall. They were indoors now. "Happy?" Numbuh Five smirked. "Yeah right!"

"He'll just be brainwashed into thinking he's happy," Numbuh Two added.

"Yeah, and that thing will definitely work on him," Numbuh Four said. "Not like me though. I'm way too brainy to be brainwashed!"

Numbuh Two chuckled. "Whatever!" he giggled. "You're so dumb if you were pushed off a building you'd never fall down because you don't know where _down_ is!"

Numbuh Two burst into more laughter. "I'm gonna make you regret that!" Numbuh Four said angrily, and chased him around the room.

Numbuh Three turned to Numbuh Five, who was watching the boys running around crazily, and Numbuh Three said, "I think he's still angry about us being called lame without Numbuh One."

"But it's true," Numbuh Five sighed. Numbuh Three looked at her quizzically. Numbuh Five continued, "We're completely hopeless without Numbuh One, and they know it. They know how important our leader is to us... Numbuh One's such a cool guy, and when it comes to missions... Numbuh Five sure would rank him as 'Numbuh One'."

Numbuh Three smiled. "You really like him, don't you?" she asked.

"Well, sure, Numbuh Three," Numbuh Five shrugged. "He's the best leader we could ever..."

"That's not what I meant," Numbuh Three smiled. "You like him as in... _like_ him. Right?"

"What?" Numbuh Five frowned.

"Really," Numbuh Three giggled. "You keep going on about how wonderful he is, and I saw you blush when you accidentally on purpose landed in his arms today!"

"That wasn't accidentally on purpose!" Numbuh Five said, looking a little angry. She saw Numbuh Three's cheeky smile, then she gulped. "Uh... what Numbuh Five means is... it was accidentally. Just accidentally! Okay?"

"Maybe," Numbuh Three said. "But you definitely have a thing for him!"

"That ain't true!" Numbuh Five said quickly. "That's just..." Then she wondered about this for a moment. "Don't tell the guys, okay?" she asked.

Numbuh Three smiled. Just then 'the guys' ran over towards them, and Numbuh Four landed on Numbuh Three. _Was that accidentally on purpose?_ wondered Numbuh Three, secretly feeling hopeful.

Numbuh Two then ran over, but skidded and crashed into everyone else. They all fell against the door, which burst open. The Delightful Children, Lizzie, and even Numbuh One gasped in shock as this happened. Numbuh Two smiled to himself. "Man, have I got the element of surprise or what?" he asked himself.

The kids got up quickly from the ground, and tried their best to look menacing after the door incident. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Kids Next Door!" the Delightful Children smiled mockingly. "What a _delightful_ surprise! You're here just in time to say goodbye to your leader."

"Crud, I hate it when they don't catch on," Numbuh Four said angrily.

_I hate it when he doesn't recognize sarcasm,_ thought Numbuh Two.

Numbuh Four noticed Lizzie standing behind Nigel with a boyfriend helmet, so he decided to get it out of her possession. "Rawwr!" Numbuh Four almost 'growled' as he ran and pounced over to Lizzie, who held the boyfriend helmet high above her head so that he wouldn't reach it. Numbuh Four tried jumping up, but Lizzie pushed his head down. "Cruddy... tall people!" Numbuh Four said under his breath.

The remaining three Kids Next Door turned to the Delightful Children, who were saying, "When Nigel Uno puts on that helmet, he'll forget you forever. It's like what you brats call decommissioning, only he gets a girlfriend out of it! So, you kids here for last words to your leader?"

"You know why we're here," Numbuh Five yelled. "We're here to get Nigie back!" She suddenly froze in horror. "Did I just say _Nigie_?" she gasped, looking at Numbuh One to see if he heard. Fortunately, he was too busy watching Numbuh Four trying to get past Lizzie to pay any attention.

The Delightful Children had obviously heard. They burst out laughing. "Awww, how cute!" they chuckled. "Isn't it funny how little Abigail has a crush on her leader now that he's about to forget that she even exists?"

Numbuh Five was glad to see that everyone was too focused on getting the helmet away from Lizzie to hear what was being said. "Listen you creeps," Numbuh Five said. "Nige-uh, Numbuh One would never join someone by force. He knows what's best for him, and that's being our leader!"

"Listen to yourself!" the Delightful Children snapped. "So possessive over him, so passionate to keep him with you! You sound just like Lizzie Devine!"

Numbuh Five gasped. She didn't mean to sound like that! "Hey, all Numbuh Five was saying is..." she began.

"Excuses, excuses," the Delightful Children muttered. "If you wanna save your precious leader so much, why are you moaning to us?"

Just then Numbuh Two hit the boyfriend helmet out of Lizzie's hand. The helmet flew into the air and Numbuh Three caught it. Numbuhs Two, Three and Four quickly ran from Lizzie. Numbuh Three didn't notice that the Delightful Children were surrounding her. Numbuh Two and Numbuh Five ran to help her, but two of the Delightful Children threw them to the ground. Numbuh Three suddenly noticed that Numbuh Four was open, so she threw the helmet to him. Numbuh Four looked flattered that she had thrown it to him - she must have really trusted him!

_Okay, Numbuh Four. Time to be a hero!_ Numbuh Four thought to himself as he ran. Seeing that the rest of his team were surrounded by the enemy, and that Lizzie was chasing him, he quickly threw the helmet in Numbuh One's direction. A few moments later, he suddenly realized something. "Oh yeah," he said. "Numbuh One's tied up. He can't catch it. Crud."

The boyfriend helmet landed firmly onto Numbuh One's head.

There was some uncontrollable zapping and zinging coming from Numbuh One's boyfriend helmet-covered head. Lizzie laughed evilly. "In a matter of seconds, Nigel will have forgotten all about you stupid kids, and he will be all mine!" This was followed by some more laughter from Lizzie and the Delightful Children.

Not much was going on in Numbuh One's brain right now - in fact, everything was all jumbled up. He looked confused and his eyes had turned into spirals. "He's already in a trance," Numbuh Four wailed. "And it's all my fault!"

Poor Numbuh Four didn't seem his normal tough self right now. Numbuh Three felt sorry for him. "Awww, don't worry, Numbuh Four," she said softly, giving him a warm hug. "We'll save him."

"You betcha!" Numbuh Two added, forcing a smile. Then, looking more worried, he turned to Numbuh Five and asked, "So... what's the plan, Numbuh Five?"

Numbuh Five looked over at Numbuh One. He probably didn't even know who they were by now, and those dreaded feelings for Lizzie had probably kicked in. "I... I don't know," Numbuh Five said quietly.

"Wait - you can't give up now!" Numbuh Two gulped, with more horror in his voice. "You know what you said earlier... we have to rescue Numbuh One because he's our leader, and we're hopeless without him!" Then, mumbling to himself he said, "Not that I agree with you."

"But that's just it!" Numbuh Five explained, her voice sounding a little choked up. "We really are hopeless without him." She felt her eyes well up with tears, but continued, "Numbuh Five just wants our leader back..."

"Yeah," Numbuh Three sighed, looking down at Numbuh Four. "He's kinda mission-obsessed, but he's good at his job."

"I guess we all want him back," Numbuh Two said sadly, putting a hand on Numbuh Five's shoulder.

Numbuh One may have been dazed and confused, but he still had enough brainpower left to work out what had just been said. He thought, _I'm a loyal member of the Kids Next Door. The needs of my team must always come first, and right now my team need me. Not only that, but I'm their leader... and I'm not about to let someone else tell me what to do! _That was all too true; if there was one thing Nigel Uno still knew, it was that he had the responsibility of being a leader. And if there was one thing Nigel Uno would never let happen, it was letting someone else boss him around. Suddenly everything was clear again.

Numbuh One found his strength (okay, perhaps a little more strength than he actually has) and burst the heavy chains and straps that tied him down to the chair. "Whoa..." Numbuh Four said in awe, his eyes wide with amazement. "He blew up the chains!"

Then Numbuh One got hold of the helmet, which wasn't fusing to him as quickly as it was a moment ago, then he pulled it right off of his head (ouch, that's gotta hurt) and threw it as far as it would go. That was, until it hit a wall and landed on top of Lenny's head (just so you know, Lenny is one of the Delightful Children - the dude with the helmet). Yeah, so now Lenny was wearing two helmets, and the second was fusing through the first.

"Lizzie, be mine!" Lenny suddenly yelled.

Lizzie screamed and ran off through the door that had broken off its hinges earlier. Lenny followed her at great speed. "Lenny, come back here!" the other Delightful Children shouted, running after him.

The kids stared at this for a moment, then the others turned to Numbuh One, not sure if he remembered them. They weren't sure what he was thinking at all. "Uh... guys," Numbuh One began. "What just happened, and where are Lizzie and the Delightful Children from Down the Lane?"

Almost as if to answer this question, Lizzie ran back inside, and just as Lenny ran over to her she threw the door back up in its original position. She did it just in time to hear Lenny crash into it and fall to the ground with a thud. Then she and the others heard the rest of the Delightful Children say, "Lenny, you're an idiot!"

"Oh Nigie!" Lizzie sighed. "I'm so glad to see you're okay! So... how's about we forget the whole thing just happened?" Numbuh One raised an eyebrow. Lizzie continued, "You wanna get back together, and I'll completely understand if you say no."

"Right then," said Numbuh One. "Then I'll say no."

Just as she had claimed, Lizzie was prepared. "I'll give you a dollar," she offered.

"Oh you're not going to buy me that easily," Numbuh One warned her.

"Two dollars?" Lizzie tried again.

"Deal!" Numbuh One smiled.

"Numbuh One!" Numbuh Five yelled.

"Tough luck, you lot," Lizzie grinned. "Nigie's with me again." She turned to Numbuh One. "Oh, and by the way I forgot I bought a penny sweet earlier today, so it's only a dollar ninety-nine."

"A dollar ninety-nine?" Numbuh One asked. "Ha!"

"How'd she work that one out so fast?" Numbuh Four asked his friends quietly.

"Actually, Lizzie, I'll be honest with you," Numbuh One sighed, not looking forward to this, but it had to be done. "I'm not interested going out with anyone who'd want me by force." He then looked a little softer. "But why did you join the other side? Just because we're not a couple doesn't mean we can't be friends... right?"

Lizzie suddenly brightened up. "You... you still wanna be friends?" she asked.

"Well I'm not so sure now," Numbuh One said seriously. "I'll have to think about it!" He started to smile. "But I really will think about it..."

"I guess it's better than losing you completely," Lizzie groaned. "But I don't think it'll be the same, Nigie." She paused, and then continued, "Can I still call you Nigie?"

Numbuh One hesitated. He finally replied, "I'll think about that too."

"Oh, okay," Lizzie said. "I guess I'll leave now." With that, she walked out the door, opening it so it fell on top of the Delightful Children who were standing the other side. The Delightful Children groaned and crawled out of sight.

When they were the only ones in the room, the other four Kids Next Door turned to Numbuh One. "So," Numbuh One smiled. "When that helmet landed on my head, what happened after that?"

"Man, it was so awesome!" Numbuh Four said excitedly. "You were all like zapping and stuff, then suddenly you went soopuh-tough and all, and you broke the straps holding you down and chucked the helmet thingy onto one of those Delightful dunces!"

"Yeah, nice shot, Numbuh One!" Numbuh Two chuckled.

"You were so funny!" Numbuh Three added playfully.

"Seriously, guys?" Numbuh One asked. "I saved the day?"

"As always!" Numbuh Five smiled, running up to Numbuh One and giving him a big hug. "Welcome back, Numbuh One!"

After a moment, she realized what she was doing. Whoops! What's more, Numbuh One was hugging her back, and it took him the same amount of time for it to sink in. Double whoops! They paused for a moment, and then uneasily pulled away from each other. "Uh... sorry," Numbuh Five gulped. "Numbuh Five doesn't know where that came from!"

"Heh, heh, heh... same here!" Numbuh One squeaked. He cleared his throat and said, "Well, come on, guys. Let's hurry on back to the Treehouse and see if there's any missions lined up for us."

Surprisingly, everyone actually seemed excited about going on another mission. Usually, Numbuh One was the only one ever excited about that sort of thing, but right now the others were just happy to have him doing what he does best... bossing them around, overworking them and rescuing everyone at the last minute. Life really was perfect for once!

Well... almost perfect.

After many days of discomfort and dilemmas, Numbuh One had decided to invite Lizzie round to the Treehouse. It was the first time they had really spoken ever since you-know-what. But finally, he had come to a conclusion... one that he thought suited everyone well. When Lizzie finally arrived, she looked a little edgy. "Now, Lizzie," Numbuh One said. "I haven't changed my mind about getting back together with you, but I don't want you going single just because of what happened between us." He then smiled. "So, I've been speaking to someone that you know, and well..."

He led Lizzie into his room and turned on the big plasma TV screen. A familiar face appeared on there. Lizzie gasped. "Hey, Lizzie," Numbuh 65.3 smiled. "Have you seen my new pocket protector?"

"Oh, it's just your colour!" Lizzie grinned. Numbuh One decided to leave them for a while. Somehow, he had the feeling that he had done a good deed. After all, those two were probably each other's type - they're both so annoying!

In the living room, Numbuh Two and Numbuh Four were playing video games, and once again Numbuh Four had just lost at another round. "Cruddy controller must be defective," he said, giving his joystick a pound against the floor.

Numbuh Two laughed. "This is the best day ever!" he smiled. "You're the easiest to beat at video games, Numbuh Four."

"Is that what you were saying to Numbuh One when you came out of his room laughing about something?" Numbuh Four asked angrily.

"Oh, not exactly!" Numbuh Two grinned. "It's much more serious than that! You know that thing... the thing that you told me... that I wasn't supposed to tell Numbuh One..."

Numbuh Four frowned. "Nah, you didn't!" he said, looking a little confused.

"Well, maybe not exactly," Numbuh Two smiled. "But I dropped a helpful hint..."

"What kind of hint?" Numbuh Four gulped. "You know we're not supposed to know anything about this!"

"I just told him that I'm pretty sure he'll find someone else soon," Numbuh Two replied.

"Aww, that was really nice of you!" Numbuh Four began. Suddenly, he looked at the screen. Numbuh Two had distracted him just enough to win yet another game. "Aw crud!" Numbuh Four groaned.

Numbuh Five was lying on her bed, supposedly reading a magazine, but more thinking of things that had been happening to the team lately. It was all so peaceful - until Numbuh Three came rushing in. Numbuh Five was startled, but tried not to show it. "Oh, hey, Numbuh Three," she said.

"Numbuh Five!" Numbuh Three gulped. "Just so you know, I think the guys are suspicious about what you told me about how you felt about Numbuh One when we were..."

"Whoa, slow down, girl!" Numbuh Five interrupted. She put the magazine down and sat up on her bed, letting Numbuh Three come and sit next to her. "What's up?"

"The sky," Numbuh Three replied simply. Numbuh Five raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah!" Numbuh Three smiled, suddenly remembering what she was going to say. "I don't know why, but the others seem to know that you have a crush on Numbuh One!" Really, Numbuh Three knew exactly why they knew - she had told them! But she wasn't about to risk her life telling Numbuh Five that.

"Hey now!" Numbuh Five gasped. "Numbuh Five never actually said that she had a crush on Numbuh One!"

"Nah, but it's kinda obvious," Numbuh Three smiled. Numbuh Five groaned. "Anyway," Numbuh Three said. "Why didn't you tell him that time when you accidentally on purpose hugged him after he said he wasn't getting back with Lizzie? Keeping it a secret's not gonna solve anything."

Numbuh Three left the room. Numbuh Five wanted to remind her about the issue with Numbuh Four, but right now didn't feel like it. Then again... did she really have to at the moment...?

Meanwhile, in another room. Numbuh Two was giving Numbuh Four an instruction.

"Tell her!"

"No."

"Tell her!"

"No."

"Tell her!"

"No."

"Tell her!"

"No."

Back in Numbuh Five's room, the normally laid-back operative was pacing round nervously, wondering what to say. She began talking to herself, imagining her leader was right in front of her. "Numbuh One, there's something I have to tell you..." she shook her head. That wasn't working. She tried again, "Now, Numbuh Five knows you're busy with missions, but..." No, that wasn't very good. She tried to think of something else, "Hey, Numbuh One. So did you really ever like Lizzie, or..." That was even worse. This was not the time to mention Lizzie! Numbuh Five groaned and sat down on her bed.

"Man, Numbuh One. This isn't easy for Numbuh Five to say," Numbuh Five said, half to herself and half pretending her leader could hear. "I guess I realize that maybe I was annoyed with Lizzie, because she had something Numbuh Five would never have. And that's you... I really like you, Numbuh One." At this point, Numbuh One himself was passing through the corridor, when he heard this last part. With a very strange feeling inside him, he moved silently next to the doorway (the door was slightly open from when Numbuh Three had left) and peered inside. Numbuh Five hadn't noticed - the room was pretty dark at the moment. She continued... "You're always so busy with missions, and Lizzie never understood that. I hope you don't think Numbuh Five's like that too - she worries about you, because you work so hard all the time. But you're great at your job, and the one the rest of us rely on. Numbuh Five guesses she would give anything for us to be... more than just friends." Numbuh One seemed surprised, but he smiled at this. However, he lost this smile when he heard the next part. "But there's no way you'd want anything to do with me. You never let us down... not like Numbuh Five did that time, and because of that you're bald. And it's all Numbuh Five's fault!" Numbuh Five sighed. "Oh, Numbuh One! If you knew how sorry I was, and how Numbuh Five's..." she gulped, "... so totally crushed on you... what would you say?"

"I'd say that a certain operative needs to pluck up her courage and start talking to her real leader, rather than that imaginary one," she suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Numbuh One!" Numbuh Five gasped, looking up at him. Oops - how much had he heard?

Oops - should he have said that? Numbuh One walked over to Numbuh Five and sat down beside her. "You know, Numbuh Five," Numbuh One said. "That's the nicest, most thoughtful and _longest_ thing anyone's ever said to me. But I've just got one question... why _didn't_ you say it to me?"

Numbuh Five gulped. He knew - there was no escaping it. "Uh... well, it's just that..." she began uneasily.

"I mean, if you had just spoken up I could have easily accepted..." Numbuh One began. Numbuh Five wasn't completely sure where this was going. Then, Numbuh One said, "But it looks like I'm going to have to make the first move!"

Numbuh Five wasn't really sure how to react to this - at least without making a fool of herself. Almost as if on queue, Numbuh Two just happened to walk by and see these two sitting beside each other. "You two are in a dark room," he giggled. "I wonder if anything will develop?"

Numbuh Two burst out laughing. Numbuh One and Numbuh Five glared at him. "Numbuh Five," Numbuh One smiled. "As first in command I order you to hit him."

"Huh?" Numbuh Two asked, raising an eyebrow (thus making one of his goggles bigger than the other).

"Wow," Numbuh Five smiled. "You really are a good leader, Numbuh One!"

End Transmission

* * *

Okay, so it wasn't that serious after all, but eh. Thanks for reading, and please review! 


End file.
